Conventionally, estimating prices for auction items is generally performed by analyzing the average of previous prices paid for comparable items. However, it is often difficult to estimate the price for unique items in live auctions due to the lack of comparable items. As a result, sellers of unique items are often hesitant to utilize live auctions for selling items because of uncertainty related to the eventual selling price of the item.
Live auctions proceed at a fast and often irregular pace. Bidding times on items sold at live auctions may vary based on competition between potential buyers, interest in the item, speed of the auctioneer, the number of potential buyers, and other factors. Because of the uncertainty in timing for when bidding may commence on a specific item, buyers interested in a single item, among a large set of items being sold at a live auction, may feel compelled to sit through the live auction until the item of interest comes up for bid. Further, due to the fast and irregular pacing of live auctions, users often lose out on successfully bidding on an item, particularly those buyers using proxy or absentee bids.
The headings provided herein are merely for convenience and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the terms used.